Defence for PCN court claim

comeupance

Hi, I have just received a claim form issue date 30th March, from the county court, for a PCN from VCS at Southend Airport for Stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited, in January 2020. I filled in my AOS yesterday and I'm about to start my defence. My question is when I appealed through My Parking Charge to VCS, my appeal was turned down, but the email that was sent to me was from Excel Parking Services,as their name is not on the signs or in the landowners contract, could I use this as a defence?

I will be obliged for any help that can be given, Thank You

Redx

No , but it can be mentioned within the defence and witness statements , Excel and VCS being sister companies

Read recent Southend and Bristol airport court claim threads for inspiration
Email a SAR to the DPO at VCS

Post your draft paragraphs 2 and 3 below for critique , obtained from the coupon mad template Defence

KeithP

comeupance said:

Hi, I have just received a claim form issue date 30th March, from the county court, for a PCN from VCS at Southend Airport for Stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited, in January 2020. I filled in my AOS yesterday and I'm about to start my defence. My question is when I appealed through My Parking Charge to VCS, my appeal was turned down, but the email that was sent to me was from Excel Parking Services,as their name is not on the signs or in the landowners contract, could I use this as a defence?

I will be obliged for any help that can be given, Thank You

Who is the Claimant listed on the County Court Claim Form? VCS or Excel?

With a Claim Issue Date of 30th March and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 4th May 2021 to file your Defence.

That's nearly four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

comeupance

HI KeithP, Thanks for your advice, the claiment is VCS.

Coupon-mad

Read any other Southend Airport defences.  There are several threads to be found from people who have already won and got the virtual t-shirt!

comeupance

Hi All, I never found these forums until the LBC from VCS so I have made a few mistakes along the way. On receiving the LBC, I wrote a letter in May 2020 asking VCS to send a LBC that was compliant with Pre Action Protocol they never replied. In December 2020 I received a LBC from Elms Legal. I responed to the LBC giving the reasons why I did not owe the debt, and asked for their client VCS to send all documents they intend to rely on, which they sent me. I know now that I should have sent the SAR to VCS.

I have now looked at airport defences as suggested, and have now come up 2 & 3 and will go along with the template defence from Coupon Mad. I was hoping to use the Airport Byelaws, particularly the one that states you can stop for an emergency, it seems a bit of a gray area, should I use it? Any help will be appreciated Thank You.

2.     It is admitted that the defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied

       

        The defendant was not the driver of the vehicle on the day of the alleged contravention.

       

        There are 3 named drivers on the vehicle insurance. The claiment is put to strict proof that the defendant was the driver on the day

        of the alleged contravention.

        The keeper cannot be held liable because the NTK did not use the POFA schedule 4, and it is not relevant land.

3      The defendant first heard of the parking charge by post, over a week later, and appealed the charge as keeper, the appeal was

        rejected by Excel Parking Services, the defendant believes this company had no right to deal with the appeal.

        The defendant was then subjected to a barage of debt recovery letters, one a final demand arrived a day after the deadline.

        This was carried out throughout the pandemic and lockdown, when the defendant was unable to go out and gather evidence,

        services like the Citizens advice and Royal Mail were overwhelmed. The claiment did not respond to any correspondance from

        the defendant. The defendant felt harrased, and the claiments actions caused unnecessary stress in unprecedented times.

        The claiment failed to understand the defendants position and therefore did not follow the Practice Direction on Pre Action Protocol

        Para 3a.

      

Le_Kirk

You haven't actually stated the alleged infringement nor given a defence to it.  The harassment, deluge of debt letters and post issues is not a defence.

comeupance

Thank you Le_Kirk, I will post my next attempt soon, before I do there is an interesting discussion going on in another thread on Southend Airport from IamWOOD. I t seems that the company numbers have been entered wrongly on the operators contract with the landowner. VCS has 02881745 which is Southend Airports number and Southend Airport has 02078271 which is East Midlands Airport number. VCS number is 02498820 and that is not in the contract. The question is, shall I use this in my defence, or is covered by the template defence para 16 on the newbies page.

Coupon-mad

Yes add it to your defence near the top as it is not covered by the template as such.  It is an interesting discussion, isn't it?!

Egbert_Nobacon

VCS seem to have an identity crisis.
Perhaps a large mirror is required at VCS Towers.

SayNoToPCN

State you were the keeper but not driver in one sentence. No idea why people do it in two! You can then state you put the claimant to strict proof of their assumption that the keeper was the driver. 

In 3 you state Excel - not VCS. Is this absolutely correct?